Secretary Napolitano to Discuss Ways to Bolster Global Aviation Security with International Partners in Spain and Switzerland

Release Date:

January 12, 2010

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryContact: 202-282-8010

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano will travel to Toledo, Spain, on Jan. 21, at the invitation of her Spanish colleague, Interior Minister Alfredo Rubalcaba, to meet with her European counterparts to discuss ways to bolster international security measures and standards for aviation security.

Secretary Napolitano will then travel to Geneva, Switzerland, on Jan. 22 to meet with members of the International Air Transport Association—which represents approximately 230 airlines and more than 90 percent of the world’s air traffic—as part of the Department’s efforts to work with the airline industry to ensure all flights to the U.S. meet both international and U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security standards.

Secretary Napolitano’s trip represents the first of a series of global meetings intended to bring about broad consensus on new international aviation security standards and procedures. Because TSA does not conduct screening at foreign airports, Secretary Napolitano is committed to strengthening coordination with international partners to implement stronger and more effective measures to protect air travel.

Last week, Secretary Napolitano dispatched Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute, Assistant Secretary for Policy David Heyman and other senior Department officials to meet with government leaders and major international airport executives in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and South America to review security procedures and technology being used to screen passengers on U.S.-bound flights and work on ways to collectively bolster tactics for defeating terrorists.